It’s more than rock stars and concerts at The Santa Barbara Bowl. When it’s giving season The Santa Barbara Bowl leads the pack in providing assistance to local organizations to support and grow performing arts education opportunities in our community.

As part of the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation’s mission, its Education Outreach program has approximately 20,000 touch-points with Santa Barbara County students each year—providing a range of support from educational symposiums to donated musical instruments to a robust grant program that supports in-school and after-school music and performing arts opportunities.

Now with the success of the Bowl’s $40m American Classic Capital Campaign, including the recent completion of the Lower Plaza and Dreier Box Office, the Bowl Foundation has transitioned its focus to ongoing facility maintenance and improvements to stay ahead of evolving technology and facility advancements, and increasing support for Education Outreach.

The Foundation’s End of Year Giving Campaign, which kicks off today, looks to raise funds to support Education Outreach programs for 2015 including grant funding for comprehensive in-school and after-school activities and classes, the Bowl’s 2015 Symposium, and special Bowl-led Community Initiatives.

“The Santa Barbara Bowl believes the arts are critical for human existence, essential to the development of a healthy society, and should be accessible to all individuals,” said Rick Boller, Executive Director for the Santa Barbara Bowl.

Launched in 1996 as a way to increase arts funding in local schools, the Bowl’s Education Outreach has grown to be known as the County’s go-to program for performing arts educators. The Bowl’s Education Outreach program is funded almost entirely by private donations as well as $1 from every ticket sold for Bowl events. Additionally, the foundation is working to increase a currently modest Education Outreach Endowment to $4 million by 2018 to create an additional reliable income source..

“Private funding is critical to the success of Education Outreach,” said Boller. “Although a portion of concert sales plays an important role in the program, it's the donations and eventually the endowment that really make a difference and ensure our ability to grow and make a significant impact.”

The Bowl’s Education Outreach Committee acts as a hub for the performing arts education community by providing guidance, collaboration and advocacy. The goal: to effectively evaluate, nurture and support performing arts programs and access.

The Bowl’s Education Outreach programs include:

• The Community Ticket Subsidy, a program that increases access to the arts for local students by underwriting the cost of concert tickets to world-class Bowl shows.
• The Instrument Fund to purchase and repair new and used instruments and equipment for local programs and schools, which also has collected over 250 donated instruments which have been distributed to local groups for educational use.
• Pianos on State, an annual event to raise awareness for the arts, that places donated pianos, painted by local artists, along State Street.
• Start-up ventures, such as Notes for Notes, now a national organization.
• In-school programs, such as artist-in-residence programs by Rhythmic Drummer Cameron Tummel and Storyteller Michael Katz.
• After school programs, such as Santa Barbara Children’s Chorus All-Schools-Chorus, a county-wide program that brings students from participating elementary schools together for a single group performance in Spring.
• Cottage Children’s Hospital’s music program, Pickleberry Pie.

The Bowl’s 2014-2015 annual giving drive has slated a variety of programs to increase the quality and quantity of opportunities for our community’s children. The Bowl’s 2015 priorities include:

Support
Grant funding to support local programs and leverage Bowl resources to grow performing arts education opportunities with an emphasis on school-based and after-school based programs, including those specifically targeting Cleveland and Franklin Schools, located in the neighborhood most impacted by the Santa Barbara Bowl’s concert season.

Symposium, 2015
The Bowl’s 2015 Symposium will invite local performing arts organizations, funders, patrons, students, artists and interested community members to share ideas and express challenges.

Bowl Community Initiatives
With a new full-time Education Outreach Program Manager on staff, Education Outreach is launching or in the planning stages of a number of new community-minded initiatives such as the Community Ticket Subsidy, an expanded Instrument Fund, a new community-wide Arts Education Resource Web-site, and more.

“With performing arts programming cuts continuing in local schools, it’s imperative that there is an alternative stream to fill in the gaps and bring music education to our youth,” said Boller. “We aim to provide that stream to every child in our County.”

How You Can Help
Private donations are critical to ensuring the success of the Santa Barbara Bowl’s Education Outreach programs. The Education Outreach Program aims to evaluate, nurture, and support performing arts programs through a participatory approach that maximizes resources and the investment of donors to respond to community needs as creatively and strategically as possible.

To learn how you can join in bringing the powerful benefits of performing arts education and access to local children, visit the Santa Barbara Bowl’s Education Outreach program at www.sbbowl.com/2015-Ed-Out-Campaign.